rmission, although, as
captain, I have the right to handle the boat. But that leave doesn't
extend to all the rest, Eph. What were you doing down there, anyway?"

"Why, I came on board, and left the manhole open for ten minutes,"
answered Somers. "Then I found the cabin thermometer standing at 49
degrees. I wondered how much warmth could be gained by going below the
surface I had been down an hour and five minutes when you began to
signal with that sledgehammer--"

"Sounding-lead," Jack corrected him.

"Well, it sounded like a sledge-hammer, anyway," grinned young Somers.
"While I was down below I found that the temperature rose four degrees."

"Part of that was likely due to the warmth of your body, and the heat of
the breath you gave off," hinted Benson.

"You could have gotten it up to eighty or ninety degrees by turning
on the electric heater far enough," suggested Hal.

"I wanted to see whether it would be warmer in the depths; wanted to
find out how low I could go and be able to do without heat in winter,"
Somers retorted.

"I could have told you that, from my reading, without any experiment,"
retorted Skipper Jack. "Close your conning tower and go down a little
way, and the temperature would gradually rise a few degrees. That's
because of the absence of wind and draft. But, if you could go down
very, very deep without smashing the boat under the water pressure,
you'd find the temperature falling quite a bit."

"Where did you read all that?" inquired Eph, looking both astonished and
sheepish.

"Here," replied Jack, going to a small wall book-case, taking down a
book and turning several pages before he stopped.

"Just my luck," muttered Eph, disconsolately. "Here I've been dull as
ditch-water for an hour, trying to find out something new, and it's all
stated in a book printed--ten years ago," he finished, after rapidly
consulting the title-page.

Jacob Farnum had been no listener to this conversation. Taking the
marine glasses from the conning tower, the shipbuilder was now well
forward on the platform deck, scanning what was visible of the steam
craft to the southward. At last the yard's owner turned around to
say:

"I don't believe you young men can have things ship-shape a second too
soon. The craft heading this way has a military mast forward. She must
be the 'Hudson.' If there's anything to be done, hustle!"

Jack and Hal sprang below, to scan their respective departments. Five
mi